STAMFORD -- A few months ago, 16-year-old Joanna Borenstein was shocked to find an invitation to President Barack Obama's Inauguration in her mailbox. Bornstein, a student at St. Luke's Academy in New Canaan, spent part of her summer attending a National Youth Leadership program. Thanks to her participation in the program, she was invited to attend the Congressional Youth Leadership Council's Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference (PYIC) at the University of Maryland.

Bornstein was thrilled. Although she is too young to vote, she supported Obama during his presidential campaign. But the student never thought she would get to see the new president take his oath of office.

"It was absolutely amazing," said Bornstein, who kept a journal of her experiences from her departure from Stamford on Saturday, Jan. 18 through the inauguration on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

The PYIC, which attracted 7,000 students in middle school, high school and college, is intended to provide high-achieving alumni of the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC) and the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) an opportunity to witness the responsibilities of leadership while attending the presidential inauguration, according to materials distributed by the group.

At the conference, held in the University of Maryland's basketball arena, Bornstein was treated to speeches by former vice president Al Gore, Bishop Desmond Tutu, former secretary of state Gen. Colin Powell and blind adventurer and Weston native Erik Weihenmayer, who climbed Mt. Everest in 2001.

"He did all this adventurous stuff that even I would be afraid of doing and he did it all without his sight," said Bornstein, of Weihenmayer.

The Presidential Youth Inaugural Council also had its own inaugural ball (which Bornstein said the Obamas did not attend), but the highlight of her trip was the inauguration itself, said Bornstein. She and her friends woke up later than they intended and got to the National Mall at around 10:30 a.m.

"It took us a while to get there," she said.

She and her four friends bundled up, but the weather was still cold.

Bornstein was wearing four layers of pants, five shirts, two pairs of gloves, three pairs of socks and two hats and said she was still scrambling to find handwarmers.

The girls ended up standing 100 feet from the Washington Monument, next to one of the large screens set up to show the inauguration to the crowds on the mall.

Bornstein made a video of the experience with her camera. As soon as Obama took the oath of office, the crowd in the video went wild. One man waved yellow-gloved hands up and down. Another screamed.

"The energy of being there was awesome," she said. "I can't think of another adjective. It was awesome."